Making your own bagels

Has anyone tried this? Share your recipe and techniques!

Nope, been thinking about for a long time, but I don’t think I have a suitable pot for boiling the dough in and then there’s that so called oven of mine :smiley:
But I’m sure you’ll be doing it very soon… :wink:

Just add an extra e and you can have fun making your own beagles.

Bagles are easy to make. There are many receipes online. Find one that looks good. Modify it to suit you. I usually take one I found on line and add a bunch of finally chopped (minced) white onion). Boil the already shaped bagels until done and then bake to perfection. Add about 1 pound of cream cheese to a sliced speciman and enjoy. Damn, now I am hungry.

Please evaluate this recipe: allrecipes.com/recipe/bread-mach … etail.aspx

What do you think? Do you have any better or easier recipes? Lack of Time, Lack of space and lack of equipment are big factors. I like McDonald’s Bagels but they are a bit expensive, I don’t really care for Costco’s looking for decent recipe that can get me some bagels that taste close enough to Jersey or New York but not like Dunkin Donuts or the frozen bagels that you find in the DIY stores.

One question! I don’t know where to get any cornmeal to dust the baking paper with. Do I really need it? I see cornmeal used as a pan coating often. What does it do? Can I just get away with flower or baking spray?

I also have this type of oven. I’m not sure if the temperature controls are accurate. My bread and other things seem to take much longer then recommended. Is there some of probe or thermometer that I can use to monitor the situation.

[quote=“Taiwan_Student”] Can I just get away with flower or baking spray?
[/quote]
Flowers are good. They make the bagels look prettier. Baking spray’s a reasonable inhalant. Cheaper than petrol, but slightly more dangerous. I guess it’s a matter of taste.

Yes, you can buy oven themometers, and you definitely want one if you’re going to be baking: I probably got mine at City Super, but I’m guessing the baking supply stores also stock them. (Use Google Images if you’re not sure what they look like.)

Note that a place called “Magic Bagel” actually makes moderately decent bagels: they have a branch in Taipei Main Station, sort of around the corner from the eslite that’s above the MRT blue line. I think they also have a branch somewhere in Shida, in the lane leading from campus towards (what used to be?) the night market, on the same side as the post office IIRC. Another place (which may just be called “Bagel”!) in Gongguan, sort of beside the eslite across from Taida, also makes a decent product.

I’ve never made bagels, so I can’t speak to that. For that matter, I only really know supermarket bagels from North America, so I may have no idea what “a decent bagel” even means. The places I’ve mentioned above are definitely a step up from the frozen ones I’ve occasionally and misguidedly bought here.

If you read Japanese, there are apparently 500 bazillion blogs dedicated to making bagels at home, and they have the types of ovens we have here.

Costco sells bagels. If you can eat them quick enough.

I can’t imagine they’d be harder to make than bread. With that oven you’re probably losing a lot of heat through the door cracks, which might be why things are taking longer to bake. Pick up a thermometer and check though.

[quote=“jimipresley”][quote=“Taiwan_Student”] Can I just get away with flower or baking spray?
[/quote]
Flowers are good. They make the bagels look prettier. Baking spray’s a reasonable inhalant. Cheaper than petrol, but slightly more dangerous. I guess it’s a matter of taste.[/quote]

Wow, I must have been using too much cooking spray for my eggs? “Petrol?” is that like the Vicks, the jelly you rub on your chest when you have a cold? I much prefer “Gas”. Flowers, hmm that would add a certain color.

Yes, I’ve noticed the that the Japanese are really crazy for bagels. I saw a ton of Bagel paraphernalia down in the Japanese novelty store in Kaohsiung. They were made out of plastic, I’m not putting that in my oven. I really wish I could read Japanese though.

As for a thermometer. Is this the thing you meant, losinasia? You sure it won’t melt?

I live in the south. I can’t find any like that here? I could find the one with the long probe, but that doesn’t help when I want to preheat the oven or cook things that are too thin to stick it in.
Could you type the Chinese term for “oven thermometer” or a link to one in a mail order store here? I just keep getting intant read thermetors coming up in my Chinese searches. Thanks.

I think this is what you need… right… 烤箱溫度計

shopping.pchome.com.tw/DEAL3I-A44950295

This is exactly what I need, should it work as advertised!

Thanks a bunch. Next project. Registering for PC Home, and figuring the best payment method. Thanks for the Chinese. I’ll give Yahoo auction a try as I’m a member.

[quote=“Taiwan_Student”]As for a thermometer. Is this the thing you meant, losinasia? You sure it won’t melt?

[/quote]

That’s right. It will be all metal or metal and glass, with no plastic. The DIY baking supply shops have them, and there are such shops down south too. Search for the DIY baking supply shops thread, and look for the link to my big list in the first post, then try the shops in your area.

Make sure you are preheating at least 20 minutes before using your oven; it could be that you’re failing to preheat.

Do buy that thermometer and check the temp inside after 10, 20, and 30 min. of preheating, to see how slow the oven is; you’ll also find out how far off the dial is from the temp. achieved, and then run a check to see what your oven’s maximum temp is after running for, say, 30 minutes on full.

Yes, you can bake in those cheap ovens, although I recommend upgrading to an NT$8200 Dr. Goods oven, which can fit a half-sheet baking pan and which has a better door seal and more even heat.

Bagels are not much harder than bread; I have made them a number of times. You have to get a feel for when to boil them; if they’ve overproofed they will collapse after you boil them and as you’re putting them into the oven. The dough must be very firm, so you need to proof your yeast EVEN if you’re using instant yeast (which can normally be added straight into your dough mix).

[quote=“Taiwan_Student”]Please evaluate this recipe: allrecipes.com/recipe/bread-mach … etail.aspx

What do you think?[/quote]

[quote=“the linked recipe”]1.Place water, salt, sugar, flour and yeast in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough setting.
2.When cycle is complete, let dough rest on a lightly floured surface. Meanwhile, in a large pot bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Stir in 3 tablespoons of sugar.
3.Cut dough into 9 equal pieces, and roll each piece into a small ball. Flatten balls. Poke a hole in the middle of each with your thumb. Twirl the dough on your finger or thumb to enlarge the hole, and to even out the dough around the hole. Cover bagels with a clean cloth, and let rest for 10 minutes.
4.Sprinkle an ungreased baking sheet with cornmeal. Carefully transfer bagels to boiling water. Boil for 1 minute, turning half way through. Drain briefly on clean towel. Arrange boiled bagels on baking sheet. Glaze tops with egg white, and sprinkle with your choice of toppings.
5.Bake in a preheated 375 degree F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until well browned.
[/quote]

Looks absurd. It only gives the dough a 10-minute rest before boiling. It doesn’t specify whether the “dough setting” of the machine includes a rise time, or how long that is. The dough should ferment slowly to develop flavor (first rise), and then after shaping, should ferment slowly again while puffing up halfway to the bagels’ full size (proofing) before boiling. Without these steps, you’ll get flavorless hockey pucks. I recommend trying something more like this:
thefreshloaf.com/recipes/bagels
Note that in the recipe I link to, the post-shaping proofing is very brief, and then it finishes proofing in a ‘retardation’ mode, in the fridge, overnight. I did that, and got overproofed bagels once with the collapse I mentioned, so be careful not to increase the yeast or the retardation time.

It does two things: it prevents sticking to the pan, and adds a special texture and flavor to the bottom of the bagel. Yes, you may omit it. But you can get finely ground cornmeal at local dry goods stores.

Here is another recipeyou can try if you want to go for really full flavor and have a sourdough starter and some patience.